


Al's Perspective

by iamisaac



Series: Omega [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M, Omega Verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 19:57:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9009043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamisaac/pseuds/iamisaac
Summary: Set when James and Teddy first go back to the Potters' house, this is Al's perspective on their relationship.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally meant to be part of Omega, but it was a bit weird to have only a short bit of Al's point of view when the rest was Teddy's and James's, so I thought I'd post it separately for those who wanted to have a bit more insight.

It was weird seeing Teddy and James together out of school. As a proper couple. Al knew it was a bit dubious of him to keep staring at them, but he honestly couldn't help himself. He'd heard all sorts of things about Alpha-Omega bonds, and had read more since James... well, since then. What Teddy and James had didn't look anything like anything he'd heard or read, though. James was supposed to be all subservient and anything-you-say-Teddy, hanging on his every word. It would have been bloody odd to see James acting in any such way, obviously, because James just wasn't like that. All the same, he was an Omega and... wasn't that how it worked? Especially since Al had experienced James get up and do things on the order of Alphas in the Common Room, which had been weird and frankly unpleasant to witness. Like someone had stolen something from his brother. But it wasn't the same with James and Teddy, when you'd have thought it would be even more inclined to be like that, given soul-bonding and all. Wasn't Teddy in a position to have James bowing down to him, if he so wanted? There was nothing even approximating that. Instead, they were just like any other couple, pretty much – except almost _less_ so, for goodness sake. More like the friends and almost-brothers they'd always been, with James taking the piss out of Teddy for one thing or another, and Teddy responding with lazy amusement or the occasional neat put-down.

The touching, admittedly, was new. Al saw James reach out and touch Teddy fairly regularly, as if he needed the contact. Nothing big – it wasn't like they were always in each other's arms and you were scared to go into the room in case it was all just awkward – but James's hand on Teddy's arm, or Teddy putting his fingers to the mark on James's throat. The ever-present mark. When James had come back from his heat with the bite mark raised and visible on his neck, Al had (when he'd got over being appalled that it existed at all) presumed that it would fade in a few weeks and that would be that. It had done its job: his brother was now Teddy's. The mark could go. Sometimes it did begin to fade, but it always reappeared, strong and dark. It was kind of uncomfortable, the thought that Teddy was actually _biting_ James on a regular basis. That really was a bit freaky. And Al had seen the way James sometimes leaned his head back, exposing his neck to Teddy. Once he'd even witnessed Teddy sinking his teeth into James, gently but firmly. Al had watched the way James almost melted in Teddy's grasp as he did so, and had looked away hastily. Somehow, that was more intimate than if he'd caught them kissing or something.

The only other curious thing was the way they sat together. Al's parents, who were still extremely touchy-feely – embarrassingly so, if you asked Al (which they didn’t) – tended to sit next to each other, his Mum curled into his Dad's side, with her head on his shoulder. Al was sure it was all very sweet and everything, but they were his parents. He didn't mind for himself so much, but it was a bit awkward when friends came round – except, to be fair, his friends were usually a bit too overwhelmed by the whole “Your Dad's Harry Potter!” thing to fuss that much. Al supposed his father's fame was good for one thing, at least. But Teddy and James didn't sit like that. Teddy would sit on the sofa, or on a chair, and James would sit on the floor, leaning back between his legs. They didn't make anything of it: James wasn't, like, kneeling at Teddy's feet or anything. But it was the one time Albus really did feel like he was looking at an Alpha-Omega relationship, rather than one between a couple of Betas, or an Alpha-Beta one such as his parents had. James would rub his cheek against Teddy's thigh, and Teddy might slide fingers through James's hair, and it made Al feel a little bit funny.

But the thing which was driving Al – and Teddy, and James, and his Mum, he suspected – up the wall was Dad. Dad was... there were no two ways about this... Dad was being odd. From the moment they had arrived back from Hogwarts, Dad had started being very strange about Teddy and James. James in particular. Dad had given this sort of sniff – and yes, Al knew all about Alpha senses of smell – and then his eyes had gone from James to Teddy and back again, and he'd forced a smile and hugged James, but...

But.

Mum had thrown a bit of a fit about the idea of James and Teddy sharing a room, and James had pointed out that it was a bit late for that sort of thing to be problematic, given that they'd been sharing a bed most of the term at Hogwarts – which Al hadn't realised, actually, and which was a little bit too much information, quite honestly. He'd known that James was sleeping in Teddy's chambers, and it should probably have been obvious what that meant, but... Yeah, okay, he'd been dense. Dad had been fine about that, though, transfiguring James's room about so that it had a double-bed in it. He'd seemed like he was taking the whole thing much better than Mum was, to be honest.

The thing was – and this was it, really – Dad was treating James like an Omega. Not like James, his son, but like an Omega. And like the sort of Omega Al had read about, not like the person he saw when he looked at his brother. Of course, Dad was a bit older and probably still had all the prejudices and such like, but he was acting... not quite like McLaggen and those Alphas in Years 7 and 6 who had been giving James such a hard time, not that bad... Still, he was acting like James wasn't quite... Al struggled to put it into coherent thoughts. It was just things. Like the fact that he always called James's room “Teddy and James's room” now, with Teddy's name first. Or when he asked James about the N.E.W.T.s he'd be taking next year.

“At least, I presume you're taking them?” Dad's eyes had gone from James to Teddy for a split second as he asked.

“No Quidditch offers this summer,” James had said lightly, clearly knowing precisely what his father meant, but trying to avoid the issue.

“Yes, but...” Dad had struggled on.

“Yes, Dad,” James said, with just the faintest hint of gritted teeth, “I'll be doing my N.E.W.T.s next year and probably freaking the hell out. Fortunately, I'm in a position to get great tutoring for my Transfiguration, so with any luck I'll manage to get at least an Acceptable in that one. Okay?”

Thankfully, Dad had taken the hint and shut up at that point. But the fact that Dad had thought that James's N.E.W.T.s were in doubt; that the fact that he was a bonded Omega might mean that he'd just – what, give up school? And do what? Sit around feeding Teddy cups of tea? Bloody hell! Anyway, Dad clearly thinking that was a possibility was just plain weird.

Still, it was a conversation that Al overheard between his parents which really did for him.

“Harry,” his Mum said, trying to keep her voice down (not an easy task for her when she was angry, as she clearly was: Mum got loud and voluble when she was cross, as Al knew from personal experience), “will you please stop treating James like he's some sort of pariah?”

“I'm not,” Dad said, unconvincingly.

If Al were a decent person, he'd have gone away and stopped listening. Clearly he wasn't, because he stayed. James had enough problems without Dad being an utter arse about the whole thing. He might be acting like everything was fine; and when Al saw him looking up at Teddy sometimes (man, that particular look was embarrassing to catch sight of), Al knew that it wasn't just acting, but Al wasn't an idiot and he also knew how difficult things had been. The whole Quidditch fiasco had just been the tip of the iceberg – the public bit. That had worked out well, but James still had to put up with the constant put-downs, and being referred to almost unilaterally as 'Lupin's bitch' by most of the school, to the point that even a couple of the teachers had called him 'Lupin' rather than 'Potter' accidentally. Al had seen James's face on one occasion when that had happened – a portrait of despairing humiliation. Then, on top of that, there was the knowledge that James was going to have problems finding a job doing anything, let alone something he wanted to do, just because everyone thought that he wouldn't be able to cope; that he should be home with Teddy, making cups of tea and bathing his owner's head with a wet flannel, or whatever crap it was that Omegas were supposed to do for their Alphas. (Okay, probably giving blow jobs and sexual favours, but Al really didn't want to go there, thank you very much. Enough that he'd once had to witness his brother bringing himself off in front of him. He had no need to know any more about Jamie's sex life than he already did.)

“He's our James. He's not Teddy's _possession_ , Harry.” Mum was already getting a bit louder. Al hoped she'd remember to keep it down, otherwise Dad would cast a Muffliato and then he wouldn't get to hear what was going on.

“I know.” Stomping footsteps: Dad was pacing, a habit he had when he was frustrated. “He smells, Ginny. He stinks of Omega more than anyone I've ever known. You wouldn't understand, you can't smell it. Him. Any Alpha anywhere is going to react the same way to James as he is. I can't help it.”

“You can, and you will.” Mum was quite scary sometimes, when she was cross. “You're not an animal. You're quite capable of over-riding that part of your brain. You of all people ought to know what it's like to be dismissed and ridiculed just for something you can't help, and I will not have you doing that to our son.”

Dad sighed. “You're right. It's just – and the way his scent changes, reacting to Teddy. Gin, I've only come across a couple of Omegas on a personal level, despite all the time I spend in the field. Both times, they've been at home, bonded to a dubious character and doing everything their master – their _owner_ wants.”

“It's not like that with James and Teddy. Oh.” Mum gave a little sob, and for the first time Al felt guilty about listening. “You Alphas. All of you. You're going to make my boy's life miserable. I don't like you very much at the moment, Harry.”

“I'm sorry,” Dad said softly. “I'm sorry.”

Al closed his eyes in despair, and walked away.


End file.
